Cap. 641 Art. 5Powers of Directoratetoissue regulatory instruments.

(1) The Director General shall have the power, with the consent of the Minister, to issue such regulatory instruments which, at his discretion, are required for the discharge of the Directorate’s functions under this Act and which ensure adequate safety standards within the aviation industry.

(2) (a) The content of a regulatory instrument may amplify or derogate, in part or in whole, from any provision contained within this Act, and may even apply solely to one case or to a class of cases:

Provided that a regulatory instrument may also be limited to a geographic zone or to such periods of time as the Director General deems fit;

(b) Without prejudice to all other powers of the Directorate, a regulatory instrument may regulate the imposition of administrative penalties by the Directorate for the breach by any person of any provision of this Act or of a regulatory instrument made under it, as well as for the breach by any person of European Union legislation which falls to be enforced by the Directorate, such as but not limited to, the Reporting Regulation referred to in Part XI:

Provided that the administrative penalties imposed by regulatory instrument and imposed by the Directorate shall in all cases be proportionate to the severity of the respective breach. Such administrative penalties and any other administrative penalty imposed by the Directorate in terms of this Act shall be subject to an appeal before the Aviation Appeals Board.

(3) Regulatory instruments shall include any order, directive, protocol, guideline, explanatory memorandum, information circular, including notices to airmen, or other publication issued by the Director General to the general public or to any one operator or class of operators:

Provided that all regulatory instruments shall be published on the Directorate’s online portal and may be used as measures for the enforcement of any requirement which is to be enforced by or under the provisions of this Act.

(4) Regulatory instruments shall have the force of law and be binding in their entirety, and any person who fails to comply with a regulatory instrument shall be guilty of an offence against this Act, unless such regulatory instrument provides for the imposition of an administrative penalty by the Directorate for any failure of compliance.

(5) The Directorate shall be endowed with all the powers of search, investigation and enforcement as are necessary to ensure that an operator does not breach the provisions of this Act or any regulatory instrument made under it. In particular, the Directorate shall, through its authorised personnel, have the power to:

(a) carry out searches, audits, assessments, investigations and inspections on aircraft, operator and organisation facilities, on service providers, aerodromes, aprons, hangarage areas of any aerodrome, aerodrome facilities and apron management service provider facilities;

(b) order that a particular aircraft shall not fly, subject to such conditions as it deems fit;

(c) close any part of the Maltese airspace and prevent air traffic from entering said airspace;

(d) establish restricted areas, subject to those conditions as it deems fit;

(e) establish UAS geographical zones, subject to those conditions it deems fit;

(f) order any object, creature or person to be offloaded or disembarked from any aircraft;

(g) carry out such tests on flight crew and crew pursuant to the applicable EU Regulations and on any other persons present at an aerodrome for the determination of whether alcohol and psychoactive substances have been consumed by such persons;

(h) require any representative, manager or other member of the personnel of an operator or service provider to provide oral explanations on any fact, document, or other subject matter relevant to the oversight of that operator or service provider;

(i) enter any premises or land, including operating sites and means of transport of an operator or service provider;

(j) examine, copy or make extracts from any document, record or data held by or made accessible to an operator or service provider, irrespective of the medium on which the information in question is stored and whether that information constitutes a trade secret;

(k) take or initiate any appropriate enforcement measure to ensure that operators or service providers, licence, certificate or approval holders continue to comply with the requirements of this Act or any regulatory instrument made under it;

(l) limit, suspend or revoke the approval, certificate or licence of a holder when the holder no longer complies with the rules and procedures for the issuing and maintaining of such approval, certificate or licence in accordance with this Act or any regulatory instrument made under it.

(6) For the purposes of enforcement, the Directorate may issue in writing and serve upon any person, without the need to have recourse to the courts and without the prior need to receive submissions from any person:

(a) an "enforcement order" requesting that person to do anything required by this Act or any regulatory instrument made under it, or anything which is otherwise required by a European Union regulation; or

(b) a "cease and desist order" requesting that person to cease from doing anything which is prohibited by or which otherwise infringes the provisions of this Act, of any regulatory instrument made under it, or of any European Union Regulation.

(7) The issue of an enforcement order or a cease and desist order shall be without prejudice to the criminal action brought against any person guilty of an offence under this Act, as well as any provisional, consequential or accessory order which the court hearing such criminal action may adopt in any decree or judgment.

(8) Where a person, on whom an enforcement order or a cease and desist order has been served, fails to immediately comply with such order, the Directorate may impose a daily administrative penalty upon such person, of no less than ten euro (€10) per day and not more than one thousand euro (€1000) per day, for the period throughout which the breach persists:

Provided that where such a person is a body or other association of persons, whether corporate or incorporate, the Directorate may impose an additional daily administrative penalty as aforesaid upon any manager, secretary, director or other person responsible for the management of such body or association of persons.

(9) Without prejudice to the power of the Directorate to issue an enforcement order or a cease and desist order under this article, the Directorate shall have the power to disencumber, remove, lower or mark any obstacle, including any permanent or temporary structure or building or object of natural growth, present within the lateral and vertical limits of an aerodrome traffic zone and which presents a hazard to aerodrome traffic: Provided that where such action requires the entry of officers onto private land, it shall be carried out by the officers of the Directorate acting jointly with the Executive Police.